It is a common problem in automotive vehicles that the hinged door of an automotive vehicle is misaligned during the initial manufacture. This misalignment causes the door to not properly close or be misaligned when closed. Misalignment may cause air gaps in the seal of a closed vehicle door leading to noise heard by the driver, among other problems.
Overcoming such a misalignment is often completed by a mechanic or other automotive worker by applying a force to the lower portion of the vehicle door to improve its alignment. This may be accomplished generally by the crude method of grabbing a vehicle door with the hands and pushing or pulling on the vehicle door to improve alignment of the vehicle door. The method of grabbing a vehicle door with the hands often results in injury to assembly plant workers or other automotive workers. This method can often damage the vehicle door by either damaging the paint or leaving an indentation in the bottom of the vehicle door.
It is one object of the present invention to provide an improved alignment tool which can be used to apply force to the vehicle door without the danger of damaging the surface of the vehicle door. It is another object of the invention to provide an apparatus which avoids scratching or damaging of any paint or any deformation of any vehicle door structure.
Yet another method of alignment involves kneeling on the ground and pulling or pushing the bottom of the vehicle door with hands to level and align the vehicle door. Again, this method often results in injury to assembly plant workers or other automotive workers.
Another object of the present invention is to minimize risk of injury to assembly plant workers or other automotive workers when aligning a vehicle door by means of using their hands or knees when aligning the vehicle door.
Vehicle door designs often vary greatly in different models and makes of vehicles. It is an object of the invention to provide an apparatus which is simple and universal to all automotive vehicle doors and structures. It is another object of the invention to provide an apparatus which will cooperate with a wide variety of automobile and vehicle structures.
Accordingly there exists a need for a tool more suitable for correcting common misalignment and level problems in vehicle doors.